Let's Try This Again, Uninterrupted
by 30Died
Summary: In 2036, Ted dies. When he wakes up, he's at the train station in Farhampton, ready to meet Tracy for the first time, but she recognizes him. What is going on? Rest assured, this is a heartwarming story with a happy ending. First fanfic, so be gentle. Tiny mention of Swarkles. Review and Favorite, please!


Let's Try This Again, Uninterrupted

"Listen, I'll see you guys tomorrow, alright?"

Penny and Luke looked at their father with expressions of solemnity; they knew how unlikely that was. He had deteriorated so much in the past few days that they'd been treating every day like it was their last with their last parent. After sharing a look with her brother, Penny went to her dad, stopped for a second, and gave him the biggest, tightest hug that she could, and the waterworks started.

"I love you, daddy." She said through her tears. Ted hugged her in response, comfortingly patting her on the back, all while holding back his own tears.

"I love you too, sweetheart. Don't forget that, alright? Can you do that for me?" He said.

She pulled back slowly, looking Ted in the eyes, and nodded. She walked back towards her brother, who was strangely dry-eyed. He walked towards his father, and stopped just in front of him. Luke stayed there for a second, before wrapping his arms around his dad, even firmer than his sister.

"Hey c'mon, little man," Ted said to his son as he noticed that Luke had started crying even harder than his sister. "This isn't the last time that I'll see you, you know."

Ted held his son for a few minutes before his tears finally subsided. Even then, he still wouldn't let go of his dad. They were quiet for a few more moments when Luke finally spoke up.

"Dad?"

"Yeah, buddy?"

"Can you do us a favor?"

"Of course."

Luke paused for a moment, and then looked at his sister, who smiled at him, and then continued. "Can you… can you tell Mom that we love her, and that we still miss her?"

Ted closed his eyes for a moment before answering.

"Absolutely. Can you guys do me a favor, too?" Penny and Luke nodded. "Just tell Marshall, Lily, Barney, and Robin that they have all been great friends to me, and that I can't thank them enough for helping me with you guys."

The siblings nodded, and Penny joined her brother, and they both hugged their dad tightly. When they finally let go, Ted smiled softly at them. They smiled back and turned to the door. Giving their father one last look, they opened the door, left the hospital room, and closed it.

With his kids gone, Ted finally let the tears in his eyes fall to his sheets. Truth be told, he was ready to die. Not in any suicidal way, just in the respect that he had accepted the inevitability of his death. But he wouldn't get over the fact that he was leaving his children. He was looking forward to seeing the big steps that they would take in life, like getting jobs and finding that special someone to get married to, and it killed him to know that he wouldn't see that. He was sure this was how Tracy had felt when she was on her deathbed.

As his mind drifted back to his departed wife, a few more tears fell. He couldn't believe how much he still missed her, even after 12 years. Even after all that time, he could still remember everything about her. He remembered their first kiss outside of her apartment, when he asked her to move in with him, her enthusiastic reaction to his proposal, finding out they were going to be parents, his second proposal, and their wedding. He also remembered the sad times, like learning about Max, and the pain she went through while getting over him, finding out she was sick, and eventually, her dying peacefully in his arms.

He then remembered his son's request, and fear began to fill him. If there was an afterlife, would he really see Tracy again? After all, she admitted to him that Max had been her first love; what if she really wanted to spend her afterlife with him, and not Ted? He wanted to keep his promise to Luke, and he truly wanted to see and love his wife again, but what if she didn't feel the same way? What if she instead wanted to spend her time with the first man that she ever loved?

He decided to put those thoughts to the back of his mind, and just get some sleep. After all, he couldn't just spend his last days thinking about his death. And so, he decided to spend his last waking moments of the night thinking about his happy moments. It was with the memory of Christmas morning 2021, with Tracy and the kids, that he finally shuts his eyes for the night.

* * *

The sound of rain falling and hitting the ground disturbed his slumber. At first, he thought that the sound of it was relaxing, and sat there for a moment, eyes still closed. It's a simple sound, and Ted had learned, while with Tracy, that the simple things can be just as wonderful as the big ones. And so, he decided to simply revel in the peacefulness of the sound of the rain hitting the ground, pattering against the overhang and-

Wait, the overhang?

Ted opened his eyes, and realized he wasn't in his hospital room. He was sitting on a bench at a train station, and it was pouring rain. He also noticed that he wasn't in his hospital gown anymore, but in a tuxedo, and his right hand was bandaged, and he was holding _Love in the Time of Cholera_ in his left.

Ted smiled to himself, because even though he hadn't been there in more than two decades, he remembered this like it was earlier that day. He was at the Farhampton train station, the night of Barney and Robin's wedding, as well as the night he met Tracy. He still occasionally (okay, more than occasionally) dreamed about this moment, because this was when his life started to become amazing. Honestly, if this was going to be his last dream, then he couldn't have asked for a better one. With a quick look to his right, he saw that the old woman who originally convinced him to talk to Tracy wasn't there.

As he looked over to his right, he saw her.

He saw her yellow umbrella, and the memories came back to him like a waterfall. That was the umbrella that he first told her he loved her under, after trying and failing to see _The Wedding Bride 3_. He saw her bass guitar case, and he remembered first seeing her play at the wedding. No doubt, the case also contained her ukulele, and the thousands of times he heard her sing "_La Vie en Rose_" to their children came rushing back. Even after all this time, she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, and he was grateful for this chance to relive their meeting.

Ted got up, and nervously walked over towards this woman, who would later become his loving wife, and tapped her on the shoulder.

"Excuse me?" He said, saying the exact words he said when this happened the first time around, in real life. "Hi!"

She turned around, looked at him, and stopped, staring at him with her mouth open.

"This isn't right," Ted thought to himself. "She's supposed to say 'hi' back to me almost immediately…"

But she didn't. She just stared at him for a few moments, facial expression of awe and disbelief not changing, before finally speaking.

"Ted?"

He felt his heart skip a beat.

"How could she know who I am?" Ted thought.

Too confused and stunned to form words, he just nodded, looking right into her beautiful brown eyes. They stared at each other for a moment, and then Tracy dropped her umbrella and guitar case, and lunged towards Ted, held his collar, and planted her lips on his. It didn't even take him half a second to respond.

They both hungrily kissed each other, like lovers who hadn't seen each other in a very long time, which of course they hadn't. Ted felt her arms around his neck, while one of his was tightly around her waist, and the other behind her head. She felt heavenly to him with his fingers coursing through her soft brown hair, and her lips having the familiar taste of strawberries. He felt her hands move from his collar to the nape of his neck, as she began rubbing his skin tenderly. It was clear that she needed this just as much as he did.

After a while, the passion of their kiss slowed down, and their lips broke apart. They rested their foreheads against each other, listening to each other's breath, and staring into each other's eyes. They gently held the other's face with their hands, as their heart rates slowed down. It was then that Ted noticed that he had been crying, even though he was sure she couldn't tell; it was still raining, after all. Amazingly, she began wiping away his tears with the pads of her thumbs, and just smiled at him, and he smiled in return. Even if this was just a dream, he got to kiss and love his wife one more time, and right then and there, he was the happiest guy in the universe. Of course, the happiest woman in the universe was right in front of him. Simply put, the moment had been perfect.

Suddenly, Tracy launched herself towards him again, but this time she hugged him, possibly breaking one or two ribs in the process, and began sobbing into the crook of his neck. Ted was confused; sure, he was crying, but that had been just a few stray tears. It was nothing like what she was doing now, with her breath hitching to the point where it seemed difficult for her to breathe comfortably.

"Sweetheart, what's wrong?" He asked.

She didn't answer him right away. Instead, she kept audibly sobbing into his jacket, and Ted decided to hold his wife instead of waiting for an answer. As he learned throughout their relationship, good things came to those who patiently waited. As she kept weeping, Ted rubbed her back, and she gradually began to calm down enough to speak.

"I've… been waiting for you," Tracy said, sniffling. "And now that you're finally here, it's just…"

Ted continued to rub her back, not unlike how he had done with Penny before he'd fallen asleep. He wanted her to speak, but he there was also something else on his mind now…

"It just feels so… unreal," she continued. "I mean, you weren't there for 12 years, and now you're right in front of me, holding me, and trying your best to comfort me. Just like old times. But so much has happened…"

"But why...?" Ted began, unsure of how to continue. He wanted to ask it delicately, and not make her even more upset than she currently was.

"Why what?" Tracy asked, wiping some tears out of her eyes.

"If this is my dream, then why are you crying?" He responded. "You're the love of my life, and I would never dream of you sobbing like this." It was true: every time he dreamed of her, he thought of very happy memories; no tears, no sadness. Just love and happiness.

She looked at him strangely, almost confused. And then she sighed, as if a realization had just come over her. She bent over, grabbing the guitar case and umbrella she had dropped when she first saw him. Ted took the umbrella from her and held it over them, just like when they had first met.

"Sweetie," Tracy began, wrapping one arm around her husband. "You're not dreaming."

"What?"

"You're not dreaming. If you're here, that means…" She stopped for a moment, and put the case down on the ground again, and wrapped both of her arms around him, and gently whispered into his ear. "It means you're...dead."

Ted's breath stopped. _Dead?_

"W-what are you talking about?" He asked, not understanding.

"Well, what is the last thing you remember? Before coming here, I mean?" She asked, arms still firmly around him.

"I was in my hospital bed-"Ted started.

"Hospital bed?" Tracy interrupted, her hold around him tightening slightly.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sick." He said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Anyway, I was in my hospital bed, I said goodbye to the kids, they left, and then I fell asleep…"

His voice trailed off as he realized what that meant. Tracy held him even closer to her, and was now rubbing his back in the same way that he had done to her a few minutes earlier. He felt a new batch of tears come to him, and he buried his head in her shoulder as she continued to comfort him the best she could.

"S-so," Ted sniffled, "I'm not going to w-wake up?"

Tracy held her husband even tighter in response, and whispered "Shhh, it'll be okay. I know how it feels." That just made him cry even harder.

He didn't know how long they stood there, with him just weeping, and her holding him and whispering comforting words to him. After a while, he seemed to calm down a bit, and Tracy loosened her grip enough for her to back away slightly, so she could look him in the eyes. When he finally looked up, he finally asked her.

"So, if I'm dead, what is this?"

"Well," Tracy said. "What do you think this is?

"Come on, you were always the intellectual one." Ted replied.

Tracy laughed, despite herself. The sight of her laughing again, even with the seriousness of the situation, was enough to make him laugh with her.

"Sweetie, you think maybe we should get out of the rain? I'm sure your hand is tired of holding my umbrella." She suggested after she had finished laughing, as she picked up her guitar case for the second time. She was obviously trying to avoid answering him, but he was okay with that, because it meant that he would get to spend even more time with her.

"_Our_ umbrella, McConnell." He said, putting his other arm around her.

"That's 'our umbrella, _Mosby_' to you!" She responded as they walked towards the overhang. Ted looked at her questioningly. "I'm still Tracy Mosby. I didn't stop being your wife when I died, Poohbear."

Ted chuckled at the use of her pet name for him when they finally reached the overhang. Truth be told, he was giddy that after all this time, she still considered herself his wife. She sat down on the bench, and Ted took down their umbrella, and took her side.

"So…" Ted said, gesturing for her to continue.

"So?" She questioned.

"So if I'm dead, then what is this?"

Tracy sighed, and took his hand in hers, and spoke. "Sweetheart, this is… this is Heaven."

Ted closed his eyes as she grasped his hand tighter. Of course, he had already guessed where he was when she told him he was dead, but it was still a shock to hear; you don't hear that your life has ended every day. He opened his eyes and looked at her.

"And this isn't some nice dream that I'll wake up from?" Ted asked, with a small smile on his face.

Tracy laughed. "No, not likely."

"And you said you were waiting for me?" Ted inquired.

She nodded. "I wanted to spend more time with you, my Teddy Bear. Our time together was far too short, so why wouldn't I wait for you to come join me? Not that I wanted you to come too soon, I mean." She added, chuckling.

"Because I thought you might have wanted to be with-" Ted started without even thinking, and then stopped. Tracy gave her husband a confused look.

"Be with who?"

Ted sighed; he knew there was no way he was going to get out of what he had been about to say, so he figured that he might as well bite the bullet.

"Max."

Tracy looked even more confused, raising one eyebrow.

"You thought I might spend my afterlife with Max?"

Ted looked ashamed, and nodded slowly.

Tracy sighed and looked down. She seemed to be trying to find the right words to say. She seemed to finally settle on something, so she grabbed his hand again, and started rubbing his knuckles with her thumbs.

"Ted, remember when we went to Farhampton in 2024?"

He nodded. "Of course. It was our last trip together." His eyes welled up a bit at the memory, and he used his free hand to wipe them, while she gripped his hand even tighter in comfort.

"Do you also remember what I said after I said I liked hearing your stories?"

He nodded again. "You told me you worried about me. That life only moves forward, and that I shouldn't get stuck in my stories."

She shook her head. "No, I mean right before that."

Ted grinned. "You said that I was the love of your life."

She gave him a gentle smile. "I wasn't lying, sweetie. Max might have been my first love, but you're my true love. Trust me, those are two different things." She leaned over and gave him a kiss, which he quickly responded to. "I'm here because that is what my heart most desires, and if you're here, then that is what your heart most desires. It's really quite simple."

"So, this isn't just what I think is Heaven? You're actually here?" In the end, he supposed it didn't really matter, but he still wanted to know.

Tracy smiled again. "Yes, I'm really here. And I don't plan on leaving for a while."

He had to smile at that, and leaned over to give her another kiss. When he pulled away, he saw that she had an uncertain expression on her face. He immediately feared that he had done something wrong, and he felt that he knew what it was.

"Trace, I'm sorry. I should've believed you all those years ago." He said, trying to rectify the situation as best as he could.

She looked at him. "No, no, sweetie; its fine. Believe me, I'm not mad at you or anything." She reassured, but Ted remained unconvinced.

"Then what's wrong?"

Tracy spoke slowly. "So, I've been gone for 12 years…"

"Yeah." Ted sighed. "A long 12 years."

"Did you ever, you know, try to move on?" She asked nervously. "I mean, you're here, so I know you wanted to spend even more time with me, but I don't like the idea of you being alone for 12 years."

Ted paused for a moment.

"Honestly, about 6 years after you… you know, I tried dating Robin again." He said. "We tried going on a few dates, but we just didn't work out together. She did eventually settle down with Barney, though."

"Barney?"

"Yeah, they got back together about a year after that. They're not married, but they're happy together. Been going strong for about 5 and a half years now. Ellie's really happy to have a mom in her life."

"So you did spend all that time alone." She asked with a hint of disappointment and regret in her voice. Her husband had spent more than a decade alone because she had died. Alone and mourning the love of his life, no less. Hearing the sadness in her voice, Ted put his arm around her while she held his other hand, and he held her close.

"No, not quite." He said, smiling.

"What do you mean?" She said.

"Well, of course I was depressed that you were gone, and I missed you every day for 12 years. I did spend a lot of that time feeling pretty empty." Ted admitted. "But throughout all that time, I still had Penny and Luke. As long as they were there, I wasn't alone. They really kept me grounded for all that time."

"I'm glad." She said, nuzzling closer to him. "How are my babies, anyways?"

"Good," He said. "They're both in college now. Marshall and Lily both said that they'd take care of them after I… hey," Ted suddenly remembered his son's request. "The kids wanted me to tell you something."

She looked at him curiously. "Tell me something?"

He nodded. "Right before they left, the last night I was in the hospital." He took in a breath, and looked in her beautiful eyes once again. "They said that they love you, and that they miss you."

Tracy smiled, with tears forming in her eyes. "I miss them too. But I can wait to see them again. I don't want to see them before their life is over. I can wait a few decades. Besides, that way, they'll have more stories to tell. Just like their dad." She teased with a chuckle.

Ted continued to stroke her shoulder. The rain had stopped, and by then the familiar smell that occurs after a rain shower filled the air.

"So, what happens now?" He asked hesitantly.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, last time, we took the train back to New York, you gave me your number, then the best 11 years of my life started." Ted said. "I'm just wondering what's going to happen next."

Tracy looked thoughtful for a moment, then looked over to her husband.

"Well, you know what I want?" She asked.

"Absolutely." He said.

She took in a deep breath, and spoke. "You're right: they were an amazing 11 years. But I want more. So I say we take this next train, we go to our home, and we go to bed. Then tomorrow, we'll continue with our lives the way that they should have gone." She said. "Does that sound like an alright plan to you?"

Ted smiled and leaned in to give her a quick peck on her lips, and said, "That sounds perfect."

And at that very moment, a train stopped at the station. Tracy gave a wide smile, gave him a quick peck back, and stood up, carrying her case. She was halfway to the train when she realized Ted wasn't following her. She turned around, and he was just standing there, with a content smile on his face.

"What're you doing?" She asked.

Ted just looked at her, with that same smile. "Savoring this."

Tracy understood the reference to their first date, and decided to play along.

"Come-" but before she could get the second word out, Ted had already grabbed her hand, and she suddenly had the same smile as he had. As they smiled at each other with identical expressions, both anticipating what was to come, she led him into the train to their new life, and the train's doors shut.

* * *

**AN**: This idea came to me while I was reviewing another story. I'm not a terribly religious person, but I like the idea that Ted and Tracy would get together again through some means, even if it was through something morbid like death. I inserted the kid's message to Tracy because I felt that they really didn't come across as affectionate towards her in the finale (in fact, quite the opposite), so I wanted to redeem them a bit.

Also, I put in the bit about Robin and Barney getting back together because, even though I'm not really a fan (a supporter, but not a fan) of that ship, I have all the sympathy in the world for the people who are, because that finale really did do a disservice to their relationship. In any case, I felt they deserved a happy ending, as well.

This was my first fanfic, so please be gentle. Constructive criticism is appreciated.

P.S. Shout-out to **MsGodric** and **BeneathTheUmbrella** for their respective Ted/Tracy stories. If you haven't checked out those stories of amazingness and words, do so now (Well, ideally after reviewing this one). Another one that is quite good is **8rsfan**'s "How I Loved Your Mother."


End file.
